Large family car, 10K budget.

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Pants

Pants

Soldato
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Leicester
We've got by with our current family car for 6 months since my daugter was born, but there's a trip to france looming I don't fancy it in a Renault Clio with 4 gears of the 2007 vintage. The auto box is awful and you have to take the wheels off the pram to get it in.

I'm test driving a Mondeo Titanium X 1.6 TDCi today. This one. Anyone got thoughts on either the engine or the car in general? The spec looks great but I was a bit unsure about the possibly tedious engine. It will be my wifes car not mine who has no interest in going fast, but on the occasions i'm driving it (i.e. to france) I don't want to be juggling gears on the motorway. Ford claim 65 mpg, and with a decent fuel tank the range must be epic. Running costs in general look small. Ford offered £2750 for the clio. So we're tempted.

Are there any competitors I should be looking at that have reasonable running costs and a decent spec list?
 
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You're just going to have to judge for yourself - the mondeo is a big, heavy car though and will be a lot for that 1.6 diesel to cart around.
 
I guess this all depends on how bothered you are about badge, spec, age, performance.

Judging by the advert for the Mondeo, you're more interested in how old it is (and potentially it's mileage) than you are about what brand it is?

Anything to go on other than budget?
 
paradigm said:
I guess this all depends on how bothered you are about badge, spec, age, performance.

Judging by the advert for the Mondeo, you're more interested in how old it is (and potentially it's mileage) than you are about what brand it is?

Anything to go on other than budget?
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Not bothered about brand, but I've had good experiences with Ford and Skoda. The outgoing Clio has a randomly decent spec and has been amazingly reliable, so I guess i'm bothered about:

  • Reliable (hence looking at lower age / mileage cars)
  • Low running costs
  • Maximum comfort and toys
  • Adequate performance at motorway speed
  • Big enough to fit our comedy big pram in the boot + extras

We're not averse to the idea of an estate, but a Mondeo sized saloon should do.

I have a Focus ST for the fun stuff, so performance doesn't matter. It will have our baby in 90% of the time too...

Spec we want:

  • Parking sensors
  • Climate Control
  • Cruise Control
  • Heated everything (inc front window if poss)
  • Key-less entry and start would be a bonus
  • Xenons
  • Bluetooth music / phone
 
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For 10K I personally would look at a Lexus GS450H but unfortunately the boot is tiny. That said max comfort, reliability, toys (SE/SE-L) and on a decent run will see about 45mpg (Motorway) A lot of car for the money but not everyones cup of tea.

That said I am sure you could pick up a decent and maybe newer Audi A4 Estate, VW Passat, Accord etc etc.. for the same sort of money.
 
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I think I would go Mondeo but I'd worry that the 1.6 won't have the guts and you'll end up flooring it all the time which will be rubbish for MPG. What about a 2.0 diesel?
 
Del Lardo said:
Not in a month of Sundays. Stick the cruise on at 60mph and you'll see 40mpg but cruise at 70mph and you'll see 35-37mpg (on a warm day with no wind). Realistically on a run expect 32-34mpg depending on driving style.
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Mine is showing my best is 44.6mpg which was on a summer day driving on the M1 to Sheffield.. ;)

That said I only do 12 miles a day, generally in stop start traffic and I get about 27mpg in summer and 24mpg when its cold. But then again I tend not to drive it sedately. The previous owner used to get about 25/29 general driving. Then again I didn't buy the car for its economy :)
 
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Estates are generally a good shout for a family motor, low boot loading easy to throw pram/shopping in and out, great for sorting kids out when they have that impromptu toilet/messy moment and you need to change 'em, number of times we have had the daughter in the boot for this out of rain or view of others.

Don't rule out MPV/4x4 style vehicle, higher seats and rear space make it easy for loading kids and getting in the back to sort them out without being squished or back issues. I said I'd never have one till I tried a friends once and we wouldn't consider anything else now for those duties.
 
I completely agree about the estate comment.

Having owned a rather capacious estate (A6), if I was in the position of needing to lug around a family and associated gubbins, I'd be dropping my saloon in a heartbeat in favor of returning to an estate.

Saloons are great for reducing road noise and adding chassis rigidity, but far less practical from a loading space PoV.
 
The Mondeo is a very big car on the road. Personally, I would prefer something slightly smaller.

Other models to consider:
- BMW 3 Series Touring
- Audi A3 5 door
- Audi A4
- Seat Leon Estate
- VW Golf
- Skoda Octavia Estate
- Skoda Fabia Estate

Rgds
 
radderfire said:
The Mondeo is a very big car on the road. Personally, I would prefer something slightly smaller.

Other models to consider:
- BMW 3 Series Touring
- Audi A3 5 door
- Audi A4
- Seat Leon Estate
- VW Golf
- Skoda Octavia Estate
- Skoda Fabia Estate

Rgds
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He's clearly after a larger family vehicle if he's considering Mondeos and other similarly-sized estates, therefore why would he want a smaller hatch?

The Mondeo isn't THAT big anyway and doesn't feel like it's too big for the roads. I've heard this said a few times and I don't really understand it.
 
sandys said:
Don't rule out MPV/4x4 style vehicle, higher seats and rear space make it easy for loading kids and getting in the back to sort them out without being squished or back issues. I said I'd never have one till I tried a friends once and we wouldn't consider anything else now for those duties.
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Having just changed a 530i Touring for a Grand Scenic I couldn't agree more.

It's a lit easier to get them and car seats in and out, the boot space is better and has more configurations. It's also a lot brighter and the lower window lines mean the kids can actually see out, which entertains them and helps with motion sickness.

I thought it was going to be a shock moving from a 3l petrol to a 1.6 diesel, but 99% of the time it's not noticeable (other than fewer people move out of my way on the motorway).
 
Well, thanks for the advice. I agree on the estate, I would have been patient and waited for one.

My Mrs is either more decisive or less patient than me... bought the Titanium X linked in OP for £10750 with £2750 for the Clio.

The 1.6 TDCi had a much flatter torque curve and a wider power-band than I expected, in that respect I was pleasantly surprised. It was no problem to drive around at the speed limit. It got up to 70 mph at an adequate pace in the context of carting family around. However the throttle response is still no match for a petrol, and even with diesels having improved I still notice the rough idle and miss the properly wide power-band of a petrol turbo. It predictably struggled accelerating in 6th but cruised fine. It looks like dropping down to 5th is needed for motorway overtakes, boo.

The car was as expected for me also owning a Focus ST 3. Seems pretty flat on corners with damping ever so slightly on the firm side. Seemed well put together, no rattles. More toys than my ST 3, with cooled seats as well as heated, and includes everything on the toy wish list apart from sat-nav which would have been nice. The half leather sports seats aren't as good as the Recaro's in the Focus, but I've probably been spoilt there.

Overall pretty nice toys wise, otherwise not exciting, with the engine being only marginally better than I thought. Perfect for my Mrs though, apparently.
 
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